Wednesday, July 16, 2008 2 men shoot out with cops, wounded
A SHOOTOUT between police officers from Moalboal town and two armed men yesterday dawn ended up in the adjacent town of Alcantara, some four kilometers away.
No one from the police team was hurt but the two men were wounded and were eventually arrested at the Badian District Hospital, some 12.3 kilometers from Alcantara, where they were seeking treatment for their gunshot wounds.
The chase began when policemen received a call from someone at a videoke bar nearby, saying there were two armed men on a big bike.
When Moalboal Police Chief Rolly Lauron and two other police officers proceeded to the area, Allan Paquera and Jimmy Quirante, both of Alcantara, allegedly boarded the bike and sped off, defying police orders to stay put.
The police team boarded their patrol jeep and chased them all the way to Alcantara.
Paquera, who was driving the motorcycle, suddenly made a right turn.
The sharp turn caused the motorcycle to fall on its side while the pursuing patrol jeep also got stuck after one of its wheels landed in a ditch.
The two men and the police got off their vehicles and continued with the chase on foot.
Police said they were fired at, prompting them to fire back. None of the policemen were hurt.
However, since it was dark, they lost the two men.
Lauron proceeded to the Alcantara Police Station at 3 a.m. and reported the encounter.
At 5:30 a.m., Lauron returned to inform them that his team recovered a .38 revolver in the area where the encounter took place. The five-shooter revolver had three empty shells and two live bullets in its cylinder.
They believe the gun was what Paquera and Quirante used but they must have dropped it when they escaped.
It was only at 7 a.m. that they received a report about two wounded men from Alcantara who were taken to the Badian District Hospital aboard an ambulance.
A resident of Barangay Poblacion, Alcantara alerted the Alcantara Police that a wounded man named Allan Paquera knocked on his door and asked for help.
Police proceeded to the Badian District Hospital only to find Paquera and Quirante confined there for their gunshot wounds.
Prior to the chase and shootout, a certain Roland Redoble told police that at first, Paquera and Quirante entered the videoke bar and asked those around if there was anyone who knew if there was another videoke bar around.
Redoble told them to proceed to Barangay Poblacion East. Then, he saw one of them pull out a gun from his waist and then go to the motorcycle.
About 25 minutes later, the two returned and seemed to be looking for Redoble. Amodia said it was possible they failed to locate the videoke bar that Redoble had told them about.
Fearing for his life, Redoble went to the nearby police station.
Paquera and Quirante are now at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center and are being guarded by the Moalboal police. (MEA)
